Thorns of Chaos: Epilogue
by Ryan the Game Master
Summary: Sonic the Hedgehog has escaped capture...but not danger. His past has followed him, and now he has no choice but to face it and smack it down.


**Here it is. The final chapter of Thorns of Chaos. I had a LOT of trouble writing this thing. Heck, a lot of it was done on my phone day by day, and ending it...geez. Read Black Petals and the first chapter of this story before you read this one. Enjoy!**

 **All characters owned by Service Games (SEGA).**

* * *

Sonic the Hedgehog didn't get dizzy. For a guy that traveled as fast as he did, getting dizzy was unthinkable. When it came to this new level of speed, however, Sonic could tell that he would have to get used to the feeling, at least until he trained himself to adjust. Thankfully, he didn't feel the need to puke this time, as that would have been rude. Especially considering that he had crash-landed into Cream's house, which was rude enough already.

Standing wobbly in the middle of the kitchen, he tried to see straight, barely making out the hole he made in the wall. The Rabbit family now had a shortcut from the kitchen to the backyard that they didn't need, even though Sonic had managed to open the yard door first. He felt pretty bad about what he did, and prepared an apology, but was interrupted by a voice to his right. "Are you alright, Sonic?" It sounded like Vanilla, but when he looked at her, he saw a comparatively different woman. Even with the blur of his vision, the Vanilla he knew was never surrounded by an aura that teemed with arcane darkness.

"Vanilla…ma'am is that really you?" Sonic asked in a daze, shaking the haze from his head as best he could. When he took another look, she appeared the same. "What do you mean, dear?" she responded, adjusting her ascot. Sonic blinked. The aura was indeed gone, as if it were never there. Another thing he couldn't help but notice is that her figure seemed to shrink a little. "Er, were you always like that?"

"Like what?" Vanilla asked. Sonic attempted to rephrase the question, but decided not to. "Never mind. Anyway, I'm really sorry about the mess. If you want, I'll gladly clean it up." Vanilla shook her head, stating, "There is no mess, dear." Sonic looked at her with incredulity and gestured at the non-existent hole in the-

"WHAT THE-"

The house was pristine, as if no one had ever smashed through it! Heck, when he looked around his person, there was no debris of any sort! "Okay, what's going on?!" Vanilla answered matter-of-factly, "Nothing is going on, Sonic." The hedgehog huffed in irritation. "Look, ma'am, I have been through way too much crap to just ignore when something is up, and something is defin-"

Vanilla suddenly appeared in front of Sonic, looking him directly in the eye and stating, with a dangerous tone of finality, " **Nothing. Is going on. Am I clear?** " Despite being freaked out, Sonic glared back at her, his vision now clear. "Seems like a crapton of 'nothing', but, fine. As long as Cream is aware of all this 'nothing'." Vanilla sighed inwardly. "More than you know, Sonic." Shaking his head, Sonic chose to leave it at that, making a point to get answers later on.

* * *

"Oh, sweetie, I'm back! I know you'll like this tea. It's a special blend I made just for the occasion. You might even say it'll be a real…ice…breaker…"

To Tiara's shock, Sonic was not there in the lab. In fact, wherever he went, he had taken the entire lab with him. The tea set she held in her hands dropped to floor as she realized that her crush had somehow gotten faster behind her back.

He had left her.

Again.

 **"Inaceptable..."**

* * *

"Are you okay, Sonic?" Tails asked. Sonic nodded as he returned to the backyard looking rather shaken. "I'm fine, bro. More importantly, are you okay?" Tails smiled and answered, "I'm doing better, thanks. Oh, and thanks for sending Omega to check on me." Sonic shrugged. "No biggie. I just happened to be in the neighborhood and-"

"FABRICATION DETECTED."

"I mean, Omega here was worried about-"

"FABRICATION DETECTED."

Sonic glared at the ex-Badnik in annoyance and said, "WE were worried about you, Tails." Omega nodded. "Acceptable." The hedgehog rolled his eyes as he continued, "While I'm at it, Tails, I'm, uh, sorry for putting you into Eggman's crosshairs. I guess I never really thought he'd go so far as to target you. So, um, I want you to know that you don't have to follow me into this fight if you feel that you're not up to it."

Tails stared at Sonic as if he had grown another patch of quills. Then his eyes narrowed and his arms crossed. "Omega, does your database have any records on Cocoa Island?" The robot scanned his files, and as he did, Cheese pointed at something in the northern distance. It was Angel Island, about 500 miles from where they were. Everyone glanced at Knuckles' home as it floated through the sky and Sonic muttered, "Huh. How about that," reluctantly making a mental note to apologize to the echidna, too.

"Cocoa Island," said E-123 suddenly, "No data found." Tails nodded. "I thought so; it's not on any map. That's where I lived before I met you, Sonic, when I was smaller. I had a mom, a dad, and two older sisters." Sonic frowned and asked, "What happened?" Tails grimaced and answered, "The Battle Kukku Army happened. An armada of birds ransacked the island looking for the Chaos Emeralds. I drove them off, but lost track of my family in the process."

Cream whimpered in sadness, as did Cheese. "Do you….know where they are now?" she tentatively asked. Tails said, "No. I stopped looking a long time ago." Sonic sighed irritability as he asked, "Why haven't you told anyone about this?" The cub answered, with a soft glare, "Why didn't anyone ask?" Sonic tapped his foot sheepishly.

"I'm bringing this up to say that I'm not a weak little kid to be coddled," Tails continued, "I've been through a lot myself, with and without you. I knew the risks when Eggman kidnapped me the first time. Remember that?" Sonic nodded. "Yeah. He used you as ransom for the Chaos Emeralds, and all that was just to get me away from Westside Island a little while longer."

"Yep," said Tails, "That was scary. And things have gotten even more dangerous since then, but we've always gotten through it. Yeah, Eggman caught me off guard this time, but look! I'm still standing, just like you. You didn't give up when you became a werehog, right? You just came at Eggman harder! I need to do the same!" Sonic was floored. At some point, his little brother had grown up a bit. He had always made a point to give Tails props when he did something cool, and this was no different, as evidenced by the hug he gave the fox.

Tails hesitated to return said hug, as he was far too stunned. Sonic never, EVER did hugs. Everyone else was equally surprised. When Sonic let go, he had one thing to say: "I'm way past proud of you, Miles." If Tails could smile any bigger at that moment, he would have. "Thanks, big brother, but I have to ask: What brought this on?"

"¿Entonces por qué no te explico?"

The whitening of Sonic's complexion was an involuntary reaction to the horror of that voice, as was the expletive he spat a second afterwards.

"LANGUAGE, MR. SONIC!"

* * *

Shadow the Hedgehog was usually rather patient. This was yet another way he differed from his blue rival. Now, though, even **he** was starting to get antsy.

For the past day or so, he and Rouge watched the Master Emerald, waiting for Knuckles to be released from the gem's hold. So far, nothing. Knuckles' anguished expression did not change, nor did the energy that exuded from him. Shadow didn't know what was worse: that scene or how worried Rouge looked. Enough was just that. "Are you sure you don't want me to…?"

"No, Shadow," Rouge insisted, "we can't risk anything happening to Knuckles or the Master Emerald. We've been over this." Shadow just growled, "I really don't like you fawning over that imbecile." Rouge glared and replied, "What are you gonna do about it? Consider it a betrayal and **kill** me for it?" Shadow tried not to show how much that stung. "You've never been the most trustworthy person," he muttered. Naturally, she heard that and said, "Neither have you, as Black Doom can attest." He flinched again and started to speak but was cut off with, "Or maybe we could ask Infinite? I'm sure he and the old man could give a glowing review of your teamwork and people skills!"

"ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT!" he shouted. Shadow punched a pillar in frustration. "Look, I don't want to kill you. Hell, I don't want to kill anyone. But I am prepared to do what I must for the greater good. If someone has to die for that, so be it." Rouge crossed her arms bitterly. "I'm aware of that. But we're talking about threatening the life of another purely on a possibility. That is **not** fair." Shadow gave her a level stare and shot, "Life isn't fair. And don't you EVER bring up that…abomination again."

The two glared at each other, unwilling to back down from their point of view. Eventually, Rouge asked, "Out with it, Shadow. What do you have against Knuckles, anyway?" He retorted, a bit too quickly, "My reasons are my own." She shook her head and marched up to him. "Uh-uh. Cut the crap. Give me the real reason this instant…or we're done." The Black Blur hesitated, struggling to find the right comeback to that ultimatum. Eventually, he relented. "If Knuckles can't protect one gemstone, then how the hell is he supposed to protect you?"

"W-What?" she said in mild surprise. With a sigh, he elaborated, "I've lost one sister already…" Rouge's ears drooped. In moments like this, she was reminded that, in spite of all his posturing, swagger and raw power, Shadow the Hedgehog was still emotionally fragile on the inside. So, hugged him. "I'm very happy that you care, but you're not going to lose me, you silly boy." Shadow awkwardly returned the hug. This tender moment lasted a full minute before she yanked him downwards and put him in a headlock with her left thigh. "You're not going to lose me because I'm not some timid waif that needs protecting. I have been through trials myself, and they have made me strong enough to face whatever comes my way. I may not be the 'Ultimate Lifeform', but this is the last time you underestimate me. Got it?"

"I got it, I got it!" he yelled. Satisfied, she released him, casually picking a few stray quills from her leg. "I **hate** it when you do that," grumbled Shadow. "I know, little brother, I know," replied Rouge, her devil-may-care demeanor returning. "Technically, I'm older than you," he argued. She retorted, "Not from where I'm standing." Shadow just rolled his eyes with a warm smirk. He didn't want to admit it, but she had a point. Once again, the Ultimate Lifeform found himself being humbled, and thankfully, it didn't hurt as much…emotionally, that is.

"I love you, Shadow, but I need you to trust me. I am not going to betray you, I can take care of myself, and most importantly, who I choose to be with off-mission is my business. Okay?" With a deep sigh, Shadow nodded. He began to apologize, but was interrupted when he sensed a sharp surge of energy to the south. "What the-?" Neither of them recognized the energy, but they figured it wasn't natural.

* * *

"¡Sorpresa, puto! ¿Pensaste que me habías visto el último, eh?"

Sonic kept swearing up and down in his head. This was the last thing he wanted to happen, but there it was; his past staring him in the face and threatening his friends. Tiara stood in the middle of the yard, staring daggers at him whilst dark energy swirled from her scepter. And she was **angry**.

"¿Creíste que me dejarías de nuevo, eh? ¡NO LO CREO, BASTARDO AZUL!" Cream fearfully asked from Vanilla's protection, "Mr. Sonic? Who is that and what is she saying?" Keeping his eyes on the threat, Sonic answered, "It doesn't matter, Cream! I'm about to kick her to the curb!" Quickly, he charged up a Spin Dash and shot towards her. Tiara quickly summoned a pillar of dark energy, but Sonic jumped past it and slugged her, punching the Manx square in the face before she could react.

Tiara was stunned. Were it not for the rings she just lost, that attack could have done some serious damage. That wasn't the worst part, though. No, to her, the worst part was that Sonic had the gall to attack her. This cracked her twisted heart and he needed to be disciplined. Twirling her scepter around to collect some lost rings, she muttered a short incantation, and an ominous shadow appeared beneath Sonic. Figuring what that meant, he took off running, just barely avoiding the deadly spike that shot up from the ground. When the spike twisted around and chased him, he kept running.

Tails, meanwhile, had been using his always versatile Miles Electric device to scan Tiara, searching for the best way to defeat her. Problem was, the readings that he got made little sense. He adjusted the scanner, but that didn't help. It was weird almost as if…

"No way…"

Tails focused the scan on the scepter's gem, and that confirmed it. "Sonic!" he shouted, "She has a Phantom Ruby!" The hedgehog nearly tripped over himself in shock as he charged Tiara again. She was ready this time; planting the scepter in the ground, she revved up a Spin Dash of her own as Sonic reared back for another punch. Just as she let loose, though, she got hit by a cyan blur, uncurling wildly and having no defense against the fist Sonic slammed into her stomach. He followed that with a roundhouse kick to her temple, the combo costing her a lot of rings.

Sonic gave a thumbs up when he landed. "Nice one, Cheese!" Said Chao cheered happily as it flew to Sonic's side, waving to Cream who called out, "Thank you, Cheese! Please support Mr. Sonic however you can!" Cheese nodded and changed its appearance to resemble the Blue Blur. Tiara growled furiously, summoning her scepter back to her. Sonic looked at it from his position. It was blue, but the weird, unnatural vibe it oozed was all too familiar. It was definitely a Phantom Ruby. Sonic growled; **of course** there were more than one of those things.

"Tiara, are you out of your broken little mind? Using that thing to enhance your sorcery is bad! The Phantom Ruby is way too dangerous for anyone to mess with!" Tiara just shouted, "SHUT UP!" and summoned more spikes. Sonic jumped as high as he could and was caught by Tails, who airlifted him even higher. Weirdly, the spikes followed them 30 feet into the air. But, as testament to his training, Tails kept going. "Keep rocking, buddy!" shouted Sonic with encouragement, as did Cheese. "Sonic, who is that?" Tails asked. Reluctantly, Sonic answered, "Her name is Tiara Boobowski, an old 'friend' from way back. Long story short, she went nuts and has been stalking me." Tails huffed, "Sure, because that's not creepy or anything!"

On the ground, the Rabbit family watched Tiara in fear. Cream felt helpless, wanting to do something that didn't involve fighting. "Gemerl," she asked, "please help Tails and Mr. Sonic stop Ms. Tiara!" The ex-Gizoid nodded and ran towards her, ready to do battle, with E-123 Omega following suit. She saw this and was forced to dispel the spikes and conjure up a protective cloak as they opened fire upon her. Her next incantation teleported her right in front of the airborne heroes, swatting Cheese away, and grabbing Sonic & Tails by their necks as she stood upon a disc of dark energy.

Tiara glared at Sonic with a flirty kissy face. Tails did **not** receive the same courtesy; when looking at him, she only squeezed tighter. "TÚ... Todo empezó contigo, mocoso. Acaparando toda SU atención, robando SU fama, atreviéndose a llamarse SU amigo. ¡No te has ganado el derecho, rareza de dos colas!" Sonic strained and kicked to get himself free and save Tails, but to no avail. Her physical strength, in seemed, was not enhanced, not by a long shot.

Gemerl noticed this after half a minute of firing and took off flying to the air. Cream's gaze followed him upwards and saw the commotion. Getting extremely upset, she knew she had to do something, and looked at her mother. Vanilla saw the airborne scene, and nodded reluctantly. The rabbit girl wasted no time and flew.

Gemerl arrived first, firing at Tiara immediately. This distracted her enough to drop her foothold and send her falling, though her grip did not loosen. No, that didn't happen until Cream kicked her in the back. While Tails hovered as he coughed and wheezed, Sonic was caught by the young bunny.

"That wasn't nice, Ms. Tiara!" Cream shouted. "¡Silencio, niña!" the Manx shouted back as she fell, prompting Cream to respond with, "And we still can't understand you!" in a frustrated tone. "Don't waste your breath, Cream," said Sonic disdainfully, "She's too pissed off." Tails and Cheese floated to their side along with Gemerl who asked, "What…now?" Sonic looked down at Tiara, and at her scepter, and then at Gemerl. He frowned a little. "We quit screwing around and take her down."

As Tiara fell, she grabbed a stray ring and glared at the group above. She was furious that "her" hedgehog insisted on surrounding himself with people that she deemed inferior to him. To her, anyone who wasn't Sonic had no right to exist, and if he couldn't see that willingly, then she would have to show him…one way or another. Tiara continued glaring until she was 15 feet away from the ground.

She made a motion to summon her scepter, but was interrupted by E-123 Omega, who a launched a small missile at her. Tiara kicked it away, Omega sent more. The barrage distracted her, but not enough to forget that she was still freefalling. Smirking to herself, the sorceress curled up and nailed Omega with a Homing Attack, the bounce off sending her right back to her scepter.

Omega's emotional matrix processed anger, annoyance and boredom. He was growing sick of his target's annoying magic powers – which did not compute – and was starting to think that ballistics would be inefficient for her destruction. So, he decided to try hand to hand combat, and scanned his data for a suitable style to use. He chose grappling. Activating his thrusters, he headed for Tiara's scepter and, upon reaching it, made a motion to indicate that he was going to blast it.

Tiara saw this and swung at Omega with a kick only to get caught in his left hand. If the robot could smirk, he would've, as she had fallen for his feint. He swung her in a vertical 360° motion and, after a spinball jump, slammed her into the ground. Catching her in the bounce, he jumped normally and, with another swing, slammed her again before doing it a third time. He finished his assault by letting go of Tiara and turning his torso around to knock her sideways with a backhand.

"Gathered data indicates that your combat abilities are inferior," said the robot, "It would be wise to surrender. You do not have the ability to defeat us all." As he said this, Tails and Gemerl landed, flanking Tiara from both sides. The Manx clicked her tongue distastefully, pulling her scepter back to her and raising it to prepare another spell. Unfortunately for her, it suddenly snapped in half. That was the last thing she saw before being struck with thousands upon thousands of Spin Attacks at faster than light speed. To the naked eye, it looked as though Tiara was trapped within a strobe light surrounded by lasers and visible wind.

Once the attack ended, she fell to the ground, being caught by the collar of her top by Sonic, who was panting heavily. "¡Para de combatirme, Nikki," she coughed out painfully, "¡Pertenemos juntos y usted lo…sabes bien!" Sonic just glowered at her and said, "English, pendeja. SPEAK IT." He then dropped her. With that done, he willed himself not to pass out from exhaustion. Forcing himself to his new maximum so many times in one day proved to be extremely taxing on him. _'I don't think I'm going to be able to do that again,'_ he thought as he looked at Tiara's prone form, which slowly disappeared in a glitchy puff.

"Wait, what?!" He turned around slowly to see Tiara no worse for wear, and gripping the Phantom Ruby in her hands. She began glowing wildly before anyone could react, and throttled Sonic again. Vanilla reached for her ascot, but Cream yelled out, "DON'T!" staring at her angrily.

Sonic couldn't even struggle in his condition. Tiara looked directly at him, both eyes uncovered and holding the same dead expression. "He llegado demasiado lejos... y te quería por demasiado tiempo... sólo para darte por vencido. Tú me perteneces, amado. Y si no puedes ver eso... entonces tomaré todo y cada persona que tengas hasta que solo te queda... yo!"

"I don't think so, nutjob."

Whipping her head to the left, Tiara saw the one who said that, a black hedgehog with a similar appearance to her obsession and suddenly, he was gone. So was Sonic. And everyone else. Even the Phantom Ruby had vanished. "…What?" She couldn't even process that before she found herself in a random jail cell.

Tiara sat down on the ground in bewilderment. She had no idea what just happened, but one thing was clear. Sonic had escaped her once again.

Prison Island echoed with her rage-induced screams, and after that, her sobbing.

* * *

Tails opened his eyes. He couldn't believe it! He was in Ice Cap Zone! Looking around, he saw that everyone else was with him, including Sonic, who was having trouble standing steadily. He ran towards him, but was stopped by a familiar face. "Shadow! You were the one who saved us?" The hedgehog nodded twirling Tails' Chaos Emerald. "I observed the battle from afar, waiting for the right moment." Tails rubbed the sweat from his head and exclaimed, "Thanks! Any longer and it would have started to drag on."

Omega scanned the surroundings. "No sign of enemy. Shadow, status report." Before he could respond, a painful, bone-chilling, anguished scream echoed from the distance. It sounded like Knuckles. "There's your status. Let's hurry to the shrine!"

 **Ha HA! Cliffhangers.**

* * *

 _And thus, Thorns of Chaos has come to an end. Honestly, this chapter gave me all sorts of trouble. The first time I "finished" it, the fight with Tiara was a lot longer and had more action, but I drug it on so much that I didn't know how to end it. So, I had to cut it shorter. And yes, the end was anti-climactic, but I just had to do something to finish the battle, otherwise I'd never get this done._

 _Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story. As for the follow up, that will have to wait. I already know what I want to do, but Project: Blue Future's second phase is on hold, so you'll have to wait until its main event - Sonic Battle II - escapes the concept stage. Please be patient._

 _Thank you for reading!_


End file.
